New on My Site This Week:

This week found me dragging with a cold. Sometimes I wonder which is worse, the cold symptoms or the effects of the medicine we take to counter them. We have had some very cold temperatures for Texas and that makes birdwatching at the feeders more lucrative. It also means I have a hard time keeping the feeders filled. Glancing out the window to our pond yielded my first glimpse of a seasonal visitor: the spotted towhee. There were two of them splashing in the shallows of the bog that had not yet frozen over. That is where they usually make their appearance, not at the feeders, but the water features in the yard.

Photo credit: Steve Ting, Cornell Website

If you are interested in learning more about this bird click on the photo and you will be taken to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website. It is my favorite birding site.

Around the Web:

The Shortest Ever Commentary on the Whole Bible-Ben Myers did a twitter series where he wrote a commentary for each bool of the Bible. It has now been compiled on his website. Twitter limits you to 140 characters, quite a challenge. A couple of my favorites:Amos: Hallelujah! The Lord is here! Run for your lives!Titus: Don't adapt the gospel to your life. Adapt your life to the pattern of the gospel.

Evangelicals and Hollywood Muck-Trevin Wax started quite a conversation about the choices we make in this area. He states near the end, "I do not claim to have this all figured out. But one thing I know: our pursuit of holiness must be the mark against which our pursuit of cultural engagement is measured."

How to Jesus Juke a Justin Bieber Story- okay this was was just funny-we do need to lighten up sometimes. And in case you do not know what Jesus Juke means (it was new to me too) you can read how the term came to be here.

********************************************************************************************Winter in Texas can be interesting. Yesterday we had a sunny high of 83 degrees. Tomorrow we are not expecting to get above freezing and there is a wintry mix in our forecast as well. You just never know around here. Whatever the weather in your part of the world, and I know some of you are having a pretty rough time, I wish you a restfull weekend.